Sweet Spot Award Redemptions + Chicago Seminars Recap

Still settling back in from yet another great weekend at the annual Chicago Seminars in Elk Grove Village, IL, where hundreds of points and miles fanatics gather to learn and have fun. It was really nice meeting readers both old and new, and connecting with old friends.

Thanks to all who spent their Saturday evening with me during my “Sweet Spot Award Redemptions” talk. I certainly had a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoyed it too!As requested by many, this post will serve as a recap of my presentation. As always, please don’t hesitate to comment or send me an email if you have any questions or anything else to add.

Just a recap, a “sweet spot redemption” is what I would call a redemption that:

makes you feel like you’ve maximized the value

may require a little bit of thinking outside the box

works for YOU and your travel goals (a redemption may feel “sweet” for some, but utterly useless to others)

makes you feel like you’re on top of the world and excited that you want to fist-bump everyone (this is the most important, of course).

Because I was only limited to a one-hour slot, I narrowed down my focus a bit to include the following airline and hotel programs: United, American, British Airways, Southwest, Delta, Alaska, Marriott, IHG, Starwood, and Hyatt. Of course there are many, many others (including Wyndham with their super new and improved award chart).

I began with an example that we all love… Let’s go to Hawaii!Of course there are many, many ways to get to Hawaii from the Continental U.S., but if you take a minute to “think outside the box”, you’ll end up saving miles.

Best Awards to Hawaii from the East Coast:

Korean Air Miles (On Delta): 25,000 miles RT in economy/45,000 in first.

Singapore Miles (on United): 35,000 miles RT in economy/60,000 in first.

Air France Miles (on Delta): 15,000 miles OW in economy

United (During current 20% off promo): 36,000 miles RT in economy (normally 45,000).

Hawaiian: JFK-HNL for 17,500 OW for Hawaiian Airlines CC holders

Best Awards to Hawaii from the West Coast:

Korean Air Miles (On Delta): 25,000 miles RT in economy/45,000 in first.

Avoiding the Close-In Fee (if you don’t have status and you want to travel within 21 days without paying the $75 fee, book the Saver award you want a month ahead of time. After it tickets, go online and change the flight to the date you really want).

“Placeholder flights” (example: when we go to Las Vegas, and a non-stop United saver award to Newark is not available ahead of time, I always have a Southwest flight as a back-up. You can cancel Southwest awards anytime up until 10 minutes before departure!)

Re-price awards during sales (if the price of the fare drops, you can rebook for a points-refund!)

Fly 2-for-1 with the companion pass

Positioning flights

Sometimes it’s cheaper to fly! (see the awesome example below)

Since we’re on the topic of Las Vegas, say you’re in Los Angeles and want to take a quick, spontaneous trip to Las Vegas with your companion…

$41 one way!! or… 1,751 one points for TWO people!

Best use of Alaska miles:

Best for booking Emirates first class (not part of any alliance)

Still allows stopovers on one-ways

Great redemption idea: LAX/JFK-HKG (stop)-JNB (stop)-DXB (stop)-LAX/JFK for 170K miles in Cathay Pacific/Emirates first class

Lastly, I summed up the Best Use of Delta miles with this slide:

The crowd burst into laughter… but I did pull through!

Best Use of Delta Miles:

Business Class to Europe for 62,500 miles

Caribbean Awards (35,000 roundtrip in economy)

Virgin Australia (LAX-SYD 80,000 miles in business)

If you’re really desperate to dump your Delta miles… pay with miles w/Delta cc (a penny a point on paid tickets).

united….”Avoiding the Close-In Fee (if you don’t have status and you want to travel within 21 days without paying the $75 fee, book the Saver award you want a month ahead of time. After it tickets, go online and change the flight to the date you really want).”

no change fee if you make change less than 21days out? even if you change carriers? or only dates?
thanks!

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